Page 56 of Surfside Sisters

Keely knew, deep in her heart, that was true. Quietly, she said, “And now she has you.”

“And now she has me.”

Keely pushed back her chair and paced her room.

“What do Isabelle’s parents think? When are you getting married? How are you two going to live, how are you going to afford ever to have a house on the island, what about Isabelle’swriting?”

“She was afraid you’d get hysterical.”

“I’mnothysterical!”

Tommy coughed, always a sign to Keely that he was about to admit something embarrassing. “We’ve already spoken with her parents. They gave us the apartment above the garage, until we can get financially solvent.”

Keely nodded to herself. This one detail made it all true. “You won’t have to pay rent.”

Tommy was offended. “Not that it’s any business of yours, but no, we won’t be paying rent. Isabelle’s going to work at her father’s office. I’ll work for my dad. We’ll save.”

“Very tidy.”

“Be honest. You care about your writing way more than you care about me.”

“That’s absurd,” Keely snapped, although secretly she knew he was right.

Tommy continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “Isabelle has always loved me. You want to be a writer more than you want anything else. But Isabelle wants me more than anything.”

Before Keely could reply, she heard a woman’s voice in the background. “Let me speak to her.”

“Isabelle is with you?” Why did this seem like even more of a treachery, an invasion? “Damn, am I on speakerphone?” Keely bristled at the intrusion—Isabelle overhearing Keely’s words.

Isabelle began to speak. Her voice was shaking. “Listen, Keely. Remember how we used to call ourselves Surfside Sisters? We were the ones who leapt into the ocean. No matter how cold, how stormy. Remember? Well, Tommy wanted to marry you, and you didn’t choose him. You didn’tleap. Or rather, you ran. Youleapttoward New York. But I leapt to Tommy. He is more important to me than any ‘work’ I might do.”

“Wow. You sound—smug.”

“I am smug, Keely.” Her voice changed, became warmer, kinder. “Keely.Keely,come on. I know everything about you. We both know you’re truly in love with Sebastian. Tommy was only ever second best.”

“Sebastian,”Keely said and his name in her mouth conjured his beautiful face and his humor and his kindness and his body, his body that his Swedish sweetheart was probably kissing right now. She would never have Sebastian. “Sebastian has always been just a dream.” All at once Keely was dragged down with exhaustion, as if she’d been lifting bags of sand. That family, that fortunate Maxwell family! Isabelle wanted Tommy—and she got him. Anger and jealousy burned inside her, a toxic mixture that flamed so high it extinguished her rational thoughts. She wasn’t angry about losing Tommy. She was angry—she was furious—that Isabelle had him.

And she was heartbroken that Tommy had Isabelle. That was the loss that struck most deeply.

Isabelle was still talking. “I hope you can forgive me someday, Keely. You know I thought deeply about this. You and I always meant to be brave and strong, choosing what we love, doing what is right for us, and the hell with what other people think. You always knew I would choose Tommy and I have. I know about you, too. I know you want to be a writer more than you want anything else, certainly more than you want to be with Tommy. So all I can say is that if we hurt you, I’m sorry.” Isabelle’s voice changed again, and Keely could clearly hear how Isabelle was grinning. “Sorry, not sorry, as they say.”

Isabelle’s smugness infuriated Keely. “Got it. Well, I’m done. Goodbye, Isabelle.”

Keely collapsed on her bed and curled up in a fetal ball.This must be what people feel like when they’re shot,she thought. It was like a hurricane, a lightning bolt. In a matter of minutes, everything in her life had changed.

She wanted to talk with her mother. Instead, she opened her laptop and went to Isabelle’s page on Facebook. She had already added a post announcing triumphantly that she and Tommy were back together and as soon as they got back to the island, they’d look for an engagement ring. She’d posted a selfie, too. Tommy was there, shoulders straight, his smile bright enough to light a firecracker. Isabelle looked completely blissed out with her arms around him.

Keely’s thoughts jangled. Her heart skipped a few beats. She tried to sort through her emotions.

To be completely true to herself, Keely had to admit that she wasn’t absolutely heartbroken by Tommy’s desertion. And she understood Isabelle’s actions. But itstung.It felt wrong,unfair.

And it seemed like one more barrier between her and Isabelle. It was an error, a jagged break between them. As girls, she and Isabelle had dreamed of their weddings. They’d planned to be each other’s maid of honor. As things were now, whenever Isabelle and Tommy got married, Keely wouldn’t even be a bridesmaid. She might not even be invited!

—

Isabelle and Tommy got back to the island the same day the weekly issue of the town newspaper came out. Keely read it as she sat on the sofa in the late afternoon. Under the headingMARRIAGE INTENTIONSwas a write-up of Isabelle and Tommy’s engagement with another spectacular photo.

“Mom,” Keely said, “I feel like I’m going mad.”

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